Stereotypes and myths are created by media to simplify and mystify reality. The two are used to form negative stereotypical images that are used as tools of social oppression in today’s white patriarchy. This essay will focus on how Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye depicts black womanhood and motherhood and resists the reductive images of black women through the narrative technique. In the text we find the stereotypical images of the Mammy and the Matriarch in the character Pauline "Polly" Breedlove, both simplifying and mystifying black motherhood but also condescending towards African-American family constellations. The text resists these images by making readers inhabit Polly who at first fits in to the two archetypes, only to then give us additional information and use an engaging narrative technique that invites the reader to decide if Polly really is the Mammy and the Matriarch.

The purpose of this study is through a teacher perspective gain insight to the knowledge former Sodertorn teacher students possess of intercultural pedagogy and if they use it at work. The studies main perspective is the intercultural perspective, which has been the study's lead perspective. This study also made use out of a sociocultural perspective as it fits with the intercultural perspective and puts its mark in the study.

This study has used interviews for data collection. Five former Sodertorn teacher students were interviewed, the interview participants work as teachers. These five teachers’ experiences and statements were the focus of this study, the teachers had to demonstrate their intercultural skills and how they use these skills in their classroom. The study showed that four out of five interviewed teachers use intercultural education, these teachers always try to find students development zones and prior knowledge. Intercultural pedagogy approach for example focuses on the students' culture, knowledge, belongings and background. The four out of five interview participants that use intercultural pedagogy hope that their students get a deeper understanding of people that possess a different culture, religion and background. The four out of five teachers use intercultural strategies and these strategies are considered applicable when it comes to intercultural perspective.

That´s mere rhetoric! Rhetoric, which always occurs in discourses where questions of ethics is important, has since ancient times been accused of being an immoral and a value-neutral art that seduces people with flattery and what they want to hear with no interest in presenting the truth to the audience. Plato's condemnation of this practice was tough and Plato's works Gorgias and Faidros have since represented the relationship between rhetoric and philosophy; rhetoric that is described as the semblance of an art [pseudos] while philosophy stands as the search for truth. In my work I want to present the relationship between rhetoric and ethics by reading Charlotte Jørgensen and Barbara Cassin interpretations of Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrecht-Tyteca, and examine the consequences of this approach may have for rhetorical criticism.

This essay argues that Jamaica Kincaid’s The Autobiography of My Mother depicts how the indigenous colonized in Dominica are living ‘unhomely lives’ and that their experience is one of the double consciousness. i.e. when a person see the world through different "lenses." The person does not only have a dual personality but also feels the notion of having different roles in society, such as having a black identity and at the same time conforming to the stereotypical norms of the white society for a black person. Therefore, the person sees the world, and oneself, through one’s own “black” lens and the “white” lens at the same time. Subsequently, with a setting full of diversities, the novel depicts a colonial background where the characters have been ascribed certain features to their persona. Furthermore, the novel uses metaphors to show a futile endeavor of finding identity of the main characters in an ineluctable power structure. By utilizing the postcolonial theoretical framework; mainly Du Bois’s notion on ‘double consciousness’ and Bhabha’s term ‘unhomely lives’ which means to grow up between two cultures, to live on borders and in margins and not feel at ease in either sides, expands the readers understanding of the text. A central aspect of the novel is the alienation of an individual’s personal identity in the context of a postcolonial society. Therefore, the psychology of the novel’s characters will be a major theme of this essay. Nevertheless, the novel shows that it is hard for the characters Alfred and Xuela to break free from the bonds of society.

This essay’s primarily focus is on the common discourse about the persisting effects of the past in the present in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale(1985)and Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred (1979).These novels are the testimonies of the protagonists Offred and Dana who shares their experience of traumatic violence and oppression. Dana, with her ability to time travel, will see her present time in clearer light as she experiences the life of a slave on an antebellum plantation. Offred, the Handmaiden owned by the totalitarian regime Gilead, portrays her contemporary life in parallel to remembering her former and thus describing Gilead’s increasing authority. Based on different theorists and concepts in the field of cultural memory studies, this essay examines the tension between memory and history, the distantness towards the past and the problematics with representations of traumatic events. As I argue that the voices of Dana and Offred calls attention to the importance of perspective and of sharing stories, they are also an act of hope, therapy and resistance; an act that also make possible a critique of the processes of the production of historical knowledge.

In this essay, my focus has been to study the progress of the ”new” fathers ideals in youth literature used in schools today. The base for my comparative study on the ”new” fathers change over time, has been the article of Vivi Edtröms ”Det gäller pappa – fäder och döttrar i ungdomsboken” which she presents in Ungdomsboken from 1984. What Edtröm has done is pin-pointing some of the ”new” fathers attributes in youth literature of the 1970’s. In this study, I also incorporated some of the didactic aspects that teachers need to have in mind when choosing literature for students to read.

My analysis show new problem areas in the description of the father in youth literature written in the last 20 years. These new father ideals where not present in Edtröms study conducted in the 1970’s. These new ideals that I have seen in my study, has an origin in honor cultures and is a relatively new phenomenon in Swedish youth literature. This by itself demands that teachers today need to have a good insight in present gender and reception research to be able to use youth literature in classroom situations and in the same time follow the directives that the curriculum statues. The teacher’s awareness of gender specific issues is central in order to deal with the questions that can be highlighted when letting students read literature that has such distinctive attributes of fathers from an other religion and culture, particular fathers from an Middle Eastern origin.

9.

Adriasola Orellana, Stefanía

Södertörn University, School of Culture and Education, Teacher Education.

The purpose of this study is to find out which attitudes, norms and values exists about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families in preschools. Based on five qualitative interviews with teachers that work at a LGBT-certified preschool and one that is active in their work with norm critical pedagogy. To be able to fulfil my purpose of this study I concentrated on why these teachers believed that it was of importance to counter society’s heteronormativity, to prevent discrimination and mistreatments towards children and their LGBT parents in preschool. I wanted to find out what the teachers thoughts were on the concept of what a family is and how the diversity of families is shown in the preschools material and pedagogy.

When I analysed the results of my qualitative interviews I used queer theories that include heteronormativity and norm critical pedagogy. The interviews of the teachers showed that they thought it was of great importance to work with a norm critical pedagogy because they did not believe that society’s heteronormativity could or should rule in preschools. The assumption that the majority, to not say all of the children, come from nuclear families does not agree with the reality of many children in our society. To assume such thing can lead to discrimination and obscureness. The results of my study show that by reviewing your own norms and perceptions of normality, will allow you to work with a norm critical approach. It also gives you an awareness that will help you as an educator to make sure that more children and families feel that they are acknowledged and respected. The active choice of methods and materials in the preschool helps the teachers to ensure that the children can be seen and reflected on a daily basis. By questioning heteronormativity in preschool, teachers offer children more opportunities and presents different realities. It also helps them to develop measures to analyse the norms and not just assume that there is only one right way to live.

This study examines the work of art in the underground station Kungsträdgården in Stockholm and discusses the observers interpretation of the art in the station. When the artist Ulrik Samuelson got his commission to shape the station he was influenced by Marcel Duchamp and the concept art. Two themes were integrated in the work of art, the actual culture life and the palace called Makalös, which was situated just above the currant station, three hundred years ago. The station was built in two stages.

The first part was opened in 1977 and the second part in 1987. Panofsky´s iconographic working method has been used in this essay. Accurate observations of the work of art and relevant literature studies are described in the study. Samuelson’s work has a lot of references to currant culture, social and political life of the time as well as so called ready-mades from Stockholm and artefacts from Makalös.

The observers understanding of the work of art is dependent on for example the observers age and knowledge. The parts that were present thirty years ago were known by people at that time but are hardly known by anybody nowadays. The modern young observers may not interpret every part of the numerous things and symbols although this will probably not prevent them to enjoy the work of art as a highly artistic production.

The aim of this paper is to clarify the importance of communication between parents and educators, as well as collaboration. The survey involves cooperation between parents and teachers in preschool and in the survey; it is the educators’ role and approach that is made visible. The issues I answer with the help of the interviewed teachers in the paper are:

In what ways considers the interviewed teachers that can create dialogues with parents about children's daily life and activities?

How do you describe the interviewed teachers that they interact with parents in preschool and the various forms of collaboration describe the interviewed teachers that they use in preschool?

What difficulties consider the interviewed teachers may apply when creating dialogues and cooperation with parents in preschool

Using a qualitative research method, the questions have been answered in the paper.

Mild psychological effects, such as sleep-deprivation, on an oppressed and tortured human being can be characterized as “normal”. However, Shame bySalman Rushdie uses magical realist style to describe the psychological effects of shame in a patriarchal society which is based on capitalistic class values. This essay will focus on the Marxist feminist reading of the novel with a psychoanalytical perspective which is going to help analyse the effects of the oppressed female characters, Bilquis Hyder, Sufiya Zinobia and Rani Harappa. The essay focuses on different incidents in the lives of these characters with the help of critics such as Aijaz Ahmad and Timothy Brennan. Both have written critically about Rushdie. This essay will discuss the different aspects of Marxism, feminism as well as psychoanalysis and connecting them to the novel, which would give the answers as to what shame can do to a person’s psyche. The Beauty and the Beast fairy-tale gets a different perception in this story, as Sufiya Zinobia is both the characters in one.

Utopia, the perfect society, is a concept linked with the perfect human being. These concepts are the focus of Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars, and this essay will examine how the text challenges ideas of humanity and utopia. The two utopias are presented in The City and the Stars, with one branch of genetically engineered humans on Earth in each utopia. Their differences in approaches to challenges sets them apart. While examining the text literary and philosophical concepts of utopia and humanity will be used to better understand the text. The text shows us the significance of facing challenges. Moreover, that utopia, while desirable, is not for humankind as humanity's potential will not be reached when it resides in a utopia. Humanity is defined by complex emotions that are hard to allow to exist in utopias.

The purpose of this study has been to compare teachers' differing methods of teaching mathematics and their perspectives on the learning process in a municipal school to a Waldorf school. The study has examined which approach best promotes student engagement and learning in mathematics in the first three years of schooling. The study is based on four interviews. The informants’ accounts are interpreted using theories from previous research. The study shows that the municipal schools and Waldorf schools use different methods in mathematics teaching. In the public school, the focus is mostly on the students achieving curriculum goals and passing the national tests in the third year of primary school. "Silent counting" and individualized education” are methods that teachers in the municipal school make use of in mathematics teaching. In the Waldorf school students make their own textbooks, and through longer periods of teaching the teachers are aiming for deeper understanding of mathematics and its relations to the world around. The study favors the approach to teaching used in the Waldorf school in primary schools. It is assumed that students in a Waldorf school masters and have a deeper understanding of mathematics, than students in the municipal school where they work with pre-written math books.

The following essay aims to investigate Martin Heidegger’s notion of Dasein in Being and Time by taking into account the therein neglected existential-ontological aspect of birth. The point of departure is the concept of grundsein, i.e. Dasein being handed over itself as itself, groundlessly, with the remaining task of becoming its own basis from which it is able to properly project itself. In Being and Time this is made possible by actively grasping and appropriating ones ’ownmost possibility’ of being-towards-death. The present investigation however, raises the question whether or not Daseins other fundamental limit of being, namely birth, which in Being and Time is continuously disregarded, can provide a different understanding of grundsein; complementing the existing analysis by giving Dasein a more thorough framing. As for the proposed supplementing theory, the essay first turns to the concept of natality as it is developed in Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition. Thereafter it traces the notion of birth as it unfolds in the work Relating Narratives by the contemporary Italian philosopher Adriana Cavarero, who thematically remains close to Arendt, although not without some crucial differences. With that in mind, the essay finally returns to Heidegger for a critical exploration of the theories opposed.

The present investigation aims to show that these theories of birth does in fact offer insights that are foreign to, albeit not irreconcilable with, the framework of Being and Time. Especially regarding that of mitsein, coexistence, which nonetheless also have inevitable consequences for the question of grundsein. By taking birth into consideration existentially, this essay seeks to shed light on what can be considered fundamentally relational aspects of Dasein as it is shown to be constitutively in-front-of, and a being-from-others. Furthermore there is shown to be an aspect of passive reception to Dasein, more specifically the non-negotiable gift of existence at all which unceasingly remains out of it’s reach; that is, arguably, somewhat overlooked in Being and Time (even though the concepts of thrownness and historicity may indicate such a condition). Lastly the author wishes to embed the existential-ontological matter of birth in the pressing planetary crisis of our time, asserting that the question of (human) birth and existence no longer can afford to ignore these biological-ecological aspects that are undeniably of due importance for the question at hand.

In this essay, I make a queer feminist analysis of four novels written by the Swedish author Sigge Stark. The novels are: Uggleboet, Manhatareklubben, Cirkus Demonio och Baskerflickan. Using Judith Butler's theories I examine the relations between sex/gender and sexuality in the four books and show how the construction of gender is performed and the heterosexual normativity is jeopardized. I also examine whether, and if so how, Sigge Stark uses the romantic and the gothic genres to include transcending gender identities and sexualities in her work. The essay also includes a contextualisation of her prerequisities as an author and the necessity in performing a critical analysis of mass produced romantic literature.

This thesis investigates women's feelings on being subjected to piropos (catcalling) in their everyday lives. Through interviews with four Cuban women living in Havana, I analyse women's experiences of piropos through a phenomenological lens and through speech theory, investigating how norms surrounding sexualities and gender are materialised in and between language, bodies and spaces. I also investigate which acts of resistance and defence mechanisms my interviewees employ in order to cope with piropos. The first part of the analysis investigates the gendered dimensions of piropos, discussing how it constitutes gendered subject positions while enforcing gender inequality. My interviewees describe how being subjected to piropos makes them feel more feminine and links the occurrence of piropos directly to their self-esteem. They also describe how the occurrence of piropos conditions their possibility to move freely around the city. In the second part of the analysis I look at piropos as a heterosexual game in which different rules apply depending on gender. Lastly, this thesis focuses on my interviewees' accounts of resistance by analysing silence as well as verbal responses to piropos as a way of breaking the rules of the heterosexual game.

Power displays itself through talk-in-interaction in social situations; it can also present itself through appearances. Appearance is a personal feature that is immediately obvious and available to others to see. A person’s appearance makes a strong statement about ones values, attitude, abilities etc. People display power through different modalities of talk-in-interactions. This study investigates the linguistic tools that people with power tend to use and how a normal everyday person can change their social status by changing and giving out different linguistic signals. Tracing the patterns of what the verbal cues of power is and describes how an everyday character mastered the relationship between language and power.

The aim of this work is to examine how a number of class teachers reason about and find their work while teaching students who have reading and writing difficulties / dyslexia. The empirical study was intended to answer the question based on three questions.

The work is based on a qualitative method as empirical material gathered in semi-structured interviews. Six classroom teachers, one male and five female teachers were interviewed. The interviewees were from six different schools in Stockholm Municipality and were between 27-61 years old.

Most of the classroom teachers feel that there are approximately 4-5 students with reading and writing difficulties / dyslexia in each class. Half of the teachers feel that students with dyslexia may be different as they are quiet, unsecure and shy. While the other half experience these students as ordinary children. All those involved are of the opinion that they work, including in the classrooms by adjusting the lessons to each student's needs. Half of the classroom teachers perceive special pedagogy teachers well, while the other half experience it as problematic. Classroom teachers also think that they have the skills needed to respond to students with reading and writing difficulties / dyslexia and think that training courses are important to keep the knowledge alive. Several of the teachers emphasize that students with reading and writing difficulties / dyslexia get the help necessary while the other half think it can be better. The classroom teachers stress that in teaching, they use different methods which they cannot name.

This study explores the use of online music as a resource among young Afghan newcomers in Swedish schools in relation to social interaction and sense of belonging. The methodology consists of qualitative interviews, conducting semi- structured interviews with 16 pupils and 4 teachers in different primary and high schools based in Stockholm. A theoretical frame is developed that highlights music as a resource for ‘the transformation of the experience of place’, creating a ‘sense of belonging’, shaping ‘social ordering’, and how all this can be related to the distinction between ‘private and collective’.

The main results demonstrate that newcomers use music to create a friendly environment in Sweden and through listening to home country music feel secure and at home. Music is used as a tool to enhance pupils’ concentration and to decrease their pressure and stress of studying in Swedish education system. The results also indicate that music is an effective communication tool between teachers and pupils, and further, that the teachers utilize music widely in their teaching to improve pupils’ attention and concentration. Although the teachers usually control the usage of music in the class, there are circumstances when the teachers change their decision regarding pupils’ music listening or ignore pupils’ disobedience in the class.

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to illustrate and analyze the approach and parental involvement of a group of mothers in their children's schooling. Also their reflections on parental involvement will be highlighted and what the parents experience as obstacles in their involvement.

Method: I conducted six semi structured interviews for my research. I chose to interview six mothers who have a child in the sixth grade. I chose specifically the sixth grade because the mothers will have had quite a few contacts with the school at this point. I also chose not to reveal their ethnicity because they cannot represent a whole ethnic group anyway.

Result: The result of my interviews show that the parents have different approaches when it comes to parental involvement. The approaches are different between the mothers but one thing they have in common is that they care about their children.

Conclusion: One of the conclusions of this study is that the parents who do not participate in meetings and activities at school, are either because of language barrier or lack of information concerning what the school expects of them. Furthermore the study shows that their lack of participation in school activities does not mean that they are not involved as parents. Instead they express their involvement in different ways, mainly in their homes.

Background and problems: All that is stated in social media might not always sometimes be right, which has consequences for the individual's view of the described phenomena. The individual interprets and takes in mass media messages, which can lead to that the wrong information makes believed to be is correct one. The news media’s photo illustrations might pictures result in bad images of the suburbs. Hovsjö, residential area in the city of Södertälje, occurs in the media depicted as is a bad place to live due to the high rate of crime there.

Purpose and Issues: My main research question is: How do young people view their residential area Hovsjö in comparison with the image they believe consider is given in that the news media gives the area? Further questions of the study are: How do the young people of the district describe their residential area? How do the youth's react to the news media images of Hovsjö? Has the neighborhood helped to form their identity?

Method: In my data collection I have chosen a qualitative approach with observation and semistructured interviews. The reason I chose to do interviews is because it gives respondents the opportunity to give their own experiences and feelings of living in Hovsjö. My method has been ethnographic for the reason that I want to describe but also to understand the informants' world.

Results: According to the interviews the news media has generalized Hovsjö as poor housing site pointing out mainly negative messages from the area. The informants have a different view on their residential area which does not correspond with the news media's version. They see their neighborhood in a positive way, and they explain that the environment has formed them to be good people. They do not deny the “crime incidents” in Hovsjö but they believe that the news media exaggerate events to depict the residential area as a criminal and dangerous area. As summary, I have come to a conclusion that the respondents have a positive view of their neighborhood which they consider a safe and a social area to live in.

This essay deals with the influence of leadership on student use of Smart phones as an ICT tool at after school care. I use a qualitative, hermeneutical method that departs from two stories. I also use qualitative interviews with both structured and unstructured questions. My reflections and interpretations are, through the interviews, complemented by my colleagues’ views of the use of Smart phones and how that is affected by how the activities are managed. I have faced a dilemma in my stories where I have to choose between following the school’s rules or help the students that need help with the use of Smart phones.

Reflecting on the stories leads me to view my own leadership and style of leadership in a critical light and to view myself in a wider context within a problematic organization with a hierarchical leadership. This leads to other dilemmas that occur in a school organization, where helpful factors to a change can be seen in different perspectives with the open dialogue as an advantage.

This paper examines the communicative crisis defense of the Sweden democrats after the criticism that appeared after the mass murder by the right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik at Utöya in 2011. In this analysis a narrative examination is made of the party leader Åkessons explanation to why the crisis emerged and how his apology interacts with the party’s internal story. The first part of the results shows that Åkesson structures a narrative where the society’s witch hunt on the party stands as an explanation to why the crisis has emerged. The second part of the analysis shows that Åkesson uses the crisis to strengthen the role of the Sweden democrats as an anti-establishment party by using dichotomies. In his crisis narrative he attributes similar characteristics to his critics and Breivik. The consequence of this is that the two actors stand as a collective villain in the narrative. To the contrary, the Sweden democrats became a hero in the narrative - the protector of democracy in Sweden.

Regarding school-teaching most people have had the traditional idea that the teacher is the owner of all knowledge and the student is the receiver of that knowledge. Tradition tells us that the way the student receives the knowledge has been by listening, repeating, reading and memorizing what the teacher has taught. Research about teaching from the last decades show that there are other strategies, ways, and qualitys for helping students in learning. One of those ways is by integration of different school subjects.

According to research every human being creates her own knowledge based on personal experiences. Johan Krantz and Pelle Persson (2001) wrote that learning is a process with experiences, ideas and opinions. Krantz & Persson said that these experiences, ideas and opinions are necessary for getting new knowledge. The purpose of teaching by integration of different school subjects is to help students to make the learning more effective and easier. At the same time, teachers can get the help they need for making teaching more effective. I have met five teachers who work at three different schools in Stockholm. I have asked them about the possibility to apply integrated teaching of different school subjects and they spoke out what they thought about it. In answering my question one of them said that for her teaching with integration of different school subjects was "like erasing the difference between work and enjoyment". Even though most of the teachers I met thought that an integration of different school subjects in teaching is a good strategy, all of them still were teaching in a traditional way. These teachers thought that it can be hard to change old traditions that have existed through years in the school world.

In my paper I adress the question of what happens in the relationship between the beholder, the artwork and the artist when they meet in the era of Web 2.0. The new smartphone based medium that I write about is Instagram. The artist i write about is the Swedish illustrator Jesper Waldersten. My purpose with this paper was to explore how the the beholder, pictures and artist relate to one another i relation to Instagram and how the interface of the smartphone and the app affect the beholder in these relationships. I also seek out to understand the difference between how Instagrams interface affect the beholder in comparison to the interface of the artists web page and his book. I use the method of qualitative empiricism to study Walderstens account. I do this study by counting number of pictures, comments, changes, descriptions and overall alterations over a set period of time. What I found out is that Instagram without a doubt is an important cornerstone of our Web 2.0 participatory-culture and that it have created a space in which we can behold art in a new kind of way. This is partly thanks to how the interface affects the picture and the beholder, but most of all because of how the different Instagram users affect each other.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how preschool employees perceive a usage of the gender-neutral pronoun hen within Swedish preschools. Our questions are: ”How do the preschool employees in this study perceive the possibility of using hen as a gender-neutral pronoun within the preschool environment?” and ”Do they think that there are any fields of usage of hen that can be applied in this environment?”

This study was carried out with a qualitative method of investigation and 11 qualitative research interviews with preschool employees from five different preschools. The recorded empirical information was documented with a dictaphone whereupon the data was transcribed and analyzed.

The study revealed how the informants perceived gender and sex in the preschool environment. We interpreted this perception as a reflection of the attitudes to the word hen among the informants. The results showed to what extent the preschool employees used pronouns like hon/han. We interpreted that the perspective among the informants when discussing gender and gender identity was biological and heteronormative. The informants claimed that they did not make any difference between girls and boys and they felt that they were working from an individual perspective. However, on the contrary, we proved the opposite.

Our conclusion is that the informants found it difficult to see the range of application of the gender-neutral pronoun.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the social integration amongst newly arrived students in the two different school systems Sweden welcomes them into. The first school system takes in newly arrived students into preparation classes whilst the other integrates the students directly into ordinary classrooms. The examination is based on qualitative observations in the classroom, canteen, and playground, and interviews with teachers and a select few students from each school system.

The result of the study showed that newly arrived students in ordinary classes are socially integrated more into the school than the newly arrived students that are welcomed into a preparation class. Newly arrived students are offered a larger chance of being integrated into the school environment if they are introduced directly into an ordinary class. In preparation classes, social integration is narrowed down to between the classmates. Instead, preparation classes were deemed academically better for newly arrived students.

The conclusion drawn from my results and previous research is that the different school systems result in different outcomes. From a social perspective, being introduced directly into an ordinary class is more advantageous for newly arrived students.

The value and importance of lectures in higher education is part of a modern education discourse worldwide. This study aims to estimate the importance of lectures for prospective teachers of kindergarten, preschool and early primary school. We analysed academic achievements of prospective teachers who had either mandatorily or voluntarily attended lectures in the subject of teaching and learning mathematics. Students’ examination grades in a maths course with mandatory or voluntary lecture attendance were analysed with a logistic model testing the association between lecture attendance requirement and grades. We show that mandatory lecture attendance (1) more than double the odds of students receiving a pass grade when their situated and tacit knowledge was examined and (2) quadrupled the odds of students achieving the highest grade (pass with distinction) when both their understanding of elementary mathematics and their situated and tacit knowledge of teaching and learning mathematics were examined. Our study provides evidence for a significant positive role of lecture attendance for students acquiring skills in Teaching and Learning Mathematics. While attending lectures students receive situated tacit knowledge of the subject which is otherwise difficult, if not impossible, for them to obtain in a different way. The observed improvement may have an additional positive effect in being a step towards overcoming a maths anxiety, which is otherwise relatively common among prospective teachers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is mainly based on teachers and students attitudes towards multiethnic youth language in primary school. The study will answer two questions; what are teachers and students attitudes towards multiethnic youth language used among young people? And what significance does the multiethnic language have for its identity? This study will also research whether the slang shows signs of group membership.

Method: In order to investigate this, five structured qualitative interviews were made with fifteen teachers and pupils from primary schools. The study is based on the participated teachers and students attitudes views of the multiethnic youth language. This study cannot give an overall view of the teachers and students answers of the languages that are spoken among young people.

Result and conclusions: The result of this study showed that multiethnic youth language is used mostly among children and teenagers growing up in multilingual urban neighborhoods in south of Stockholm. The result also showed that the majority of the teachers had a negative attitude meanwhile the students showed a more positive attitude towards the multiethnic language. The result also showed that all of the participating pedagogues and students think this type of language among young people is often known as creating a kind of identity and group membership.

I want to investigate different preschool teachers' views of their daily work in terms of the diversity of children and learning, and the methods and strategies of preschool teachers use in their everyday lives, to meet every child's individual needs. I also want to investigate preschool teacher’s perceptions of children's social skills as this is included in the pre-school assignments relating to a favorable social environment for all children.

To find this out, I have compiled three issues.

What are the views interviewed preschool teachers to learning and different lustful methods that make the educational activities meaningful for all children?

• What pedagogical strategies do preschool teachers to respond to the diversity of children?

• What opinions have interviewed preschool teachers about children's social interaction with other children in preschool?

The conclusion is:

all children are different and learn in different ways. Teachers have the responsibility to ensure every child's development and adapt the business to the children's level and needs in a way that could inspire children to learn new skills. It is teachers' responsibility to provide children with good opportunities to express their views and feelings. It is important to start from the children's conditions, needs and interests in order to lay the foundation for their learning. Therefore, educators assume the perspective of children to plan preschool.

This study aims to find out if opinions on how to think and behave around questions concerning food and lifestyle are provided by three companies in texts on their websites. The companies sell a service that provides a package deal of dinner recipes and groceries for a week at a time. The method used is Appraisal which focuses subjective evaluation ​​and attitude in text. The study is based on a constructivist view of language in which social practice and language are considered linked. The results show that the companies emphasize that people cannot affect time scarcity in everyday life but they can buy a solution to the problem. They also show that awareness around food issues are considered important, though specifically how food should be considered is defined only in vague and general descriptions.

This bachelor thesis examines how terms of heterosexuality are negotiated within the Swedish reality show Gift vid första ögonkastet (Married at first sight), which is presented as a social experiment where strangers marry each other and go on to live together for four weeks. The couples are matched by four experts (two psychologists, one sexologist and one couple’s counsellor), and their roles as professionals and distributors of knowledge are the main focus of this study as it permeates how the terms are negotiated by the six participants. By applying queer theories such as the heterosexual matrix, performativity and temporality, the terms are identified as monogamy, height difference, desire, emotional labour, and equality. These are analysed using the three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis, while also adopting its framework for ideological power to examine how the experts use their position to give way for their interpretations of relationships, love and gender.

The findings conclude that the programme works within a discourse of gender equality to support its own eligibility and does not challenge heterosexual ideals but rather furthers them by offering the heteronormative idea of monogamous love as a solution to a supposed increase of loneliness.

The article proposes that social media platforms enable large volumes of user-driven circulation of media content, and argues for a combination of qualitative and quantitative considerations when analysing data from such platforms. Issues of context are vital; context must be understood both qualitatively (cultural setting) and quantitatively (statistical reference points for comparison). The authors emphasise that the possibilities of ‘big data’ should not tilt analyses so that sensitivities to subtler meanings are lost. By examining a recent research project of our own, examples are given of how topological network analysis can be successfully combined with close readings of strategically selected parts of the data and how, by doing so, context shifts can be identified that increase the reliability of the analysis. Consequently, it is recommended that mere number crunching is not enough, and that questions of ‘how,’ ‘why,’ and ‘whether’ are required in order to understand the phenomena in their societal settings.

49.

Andersson Lidström, Elin

Södertörn University, School of Culture and Education, Teacher Education.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is an essential part of our everyday life, as the technology in different ways simplifies and streamlines our daily behavior at work and at home. By interacting with the technology we are able to communicate with other people, in a variety of ways through a variety of media. Preschools should in an enjoyable and varied way reflect the propagation of digital tools in society and the learning tablet has become increasingly common in early childhood education. This tool has many features and capabilities, for example, it may allow for occasions of linguistic interaction with various interlocutors, media and genres, which can develop children's communication skills.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions for and use of the learning tablet as a digital tool in the child's development of literacy, in preschool.

The study is based on a smaller survey of preschool managers and interviews with three teachers who are actively working with the learning tablet in preschool. I believe that this method is the best way to fulfill the thesis purpose.

The result shows that the conditions in the preschools are relatively similar. Preschool managers' experience of learning tablets and there approach to the use of learning tablets in preschool, is mostly positive. Every preschool which the informants are representing have access to learning tablets, in different extents. What distinguishes the preschools apart is how the practical implementation is carried out. The results also show that the effect is relatively similar. The interviewed teachers talk about a conscious use, a present educator and a meaningful learning context. The different situations, in which children use the learning tablet, have literacy as a common denominator. The teachers don’t use the concept of literacy, but they describe situations for language and communication, from a sociocultural perspective.